Dutch Ambulance Service First to Purchase ZOLL Automated Compression-Defibrillation System

June 22, 2009 - Medical Corp. said last week the ambulance service RAV Gooi en Vechtstreek, in Hilversum, the Netherlands, is the first EMS organization to equip its ambulances with a new system that allows rescuers to defibrillate a heart without the need to stop chest compressions.

The real-time integrated operation of the new AutoPulse Plus and the E Series both coordinate the ability to provide consistent, uninterrupted chest compressions with timed shock delivery. Integrating these two therapeutic interventions into a seamless rescue effort has long been viewed as critical to advancing resuscitation care. Stopping chest compressions during defibrillation results in a rapid fall in coronary perfusion pressure. Both the AutoPulse Plus and the E Series have the CE mark. The U.S. FDA has not yet cleared the devices.

“Our evaluations of this integrated system demonstrated that we are able to maximize the likelihood of shock success and minimize no flow time,” said Frank Berg, manager of operations of RAV Gooi en Vechtstreek. “This technological solution could be significant to improving outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest.”

Like the current AutoPulse, the new AutoPulse Plus helps provide the consistent, uninterrupted chest compressions called for by the European Resuscitation Council Guidelines. It is an automated, portable device with an easy-to-use, load-distributing LifeBand that squeezes the entire chest, improving blood flow to the heart and brain during sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

The company said AutoPulse offers a significant advantage over manual CPR because it moves more blood more consistently than is possible with human hands. AutoPulse delivers high-quality, uninterrupted chest compressions to maintain myocardial and cerebral perfusion. It offers the benefit of freeing up rescuers to focus on other life-saving interventions, and keeps them safer by eliminating the need to conduct CPR while unrestrained in the back of a moving ambulance.

Over 4,000 AutoPulse units have been deployed in hospitals and emergency services worldwide.